Santa Clara Announces 2008 Men's Soccer Schedule

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -
Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast announced today the 2008 men's soccer schedule. The reigning West Coast Conference champions open the season with back-to-back weekends on the road before hosting Cal-Berkeley at the recently upgraded Buck Shaw Stadium. This year's schedule includes five opponents that advanced to last season's NCAA Tournament.

"Our schedule will test our athletes right from the start," said Rast. "Our first four games are on the road against tough out of region opponents - Wisconsin, UW-Milwaukee, Illinois-Chicago and Loyola-Chicago. When we do finally return home we have four of the best in region opponents to contend with in UCLA, Cal, Stanford and San Jose State. By the time we reach West Coast Conference action, we should know exactly where we stand."

The Broncos will fight this season for a third straight and 11th overall WCC crown, and a 19th NCAA Tournament appearance. Santa Clara ended 2007 with a 16-2-4 overall record and a first place finish in the WCC standings with a 10-0-2 mark. The Broncos earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament last year, received a first round bye and advanced to the third round after defeated UCLA, 3-1. SCU fell 2-0 to then-No. 10 Notre Dame in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Santa Clara opens the season on Aug. 30 at Loyola College in Chicago and then faces the University of Illinois-Chicago on Sept. 1. Both matches are scheduled 1 p.m. (PT). The Broncos remains in the mid-west for the Middleton Sports & Fitness Invite hosted by the University of Wisconsin. SCU takes on the Badgers on Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. (PT) and closes out invitational play against the Panthers of UW-Milwaukee on Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. (PT).

The Broncos home schedule opens against the Golden Bears of Cal-Berkeley on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. On the following weekend, SCU travels south to Los Angeles to take on UCLA on Sept. 20 and then returns home to host San Jose State in the Seventh Annual Rivalry Series. The Broncos and Spartans kick off at 7 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Santa Clara brings non-conference play to a close on Sept. 27 against Stanford. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at Cagan Stadium in Palo Alto. The Broncos then open WCC action on Oct. 3 at Portland. SCU travels to Gonzaga and Saint Mary's on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12, respectively, before heading back to the Mission Campus to host Loyola Marymount on Oct. 17. The Broncos then welcome San Diego on Oct. 19 and San Francisco on Oct. 24 to end the first half of conference play.

SCU brings its home slate to a close on Nov. 7 against Saint Mary's at 7 p.m. and then closes out the 2008 regular-season on the road against Loyola Marymount (Nov. 14) and San Diego (Nov. 16).

A potential 19th NCAA Tournament appearance for Santa Clara will begin on Nov. 21-22 at campus sites. The NCAA second round will be held on Nov. 26, with third round action on Nov. 29-30. Quarterfinal play is scheduled for Dec. 5-7, with the 2008 College Cup held on Dec. 12-14 in Frisco, Texas.